November 23, 2020 2018-2020 Community Report Now Available In 2018 Trying Together rebranded and embarked on its Strategic Roadmap. Now two-years in, Trying Together pauses to reflect on what has been accomplished, what still needs to be done, and what has changed in the midst of these turbulent times in the 2018 – 2020 Trying Together Community Report. Moving forward, Trying Together will provide an updated version of this report biennially to share continued progress and future plans. More Information Caregivers of young children today are facing unprecedented challenges. From extensive changes in the early learning field to the current COVID-19 pandemic and more, adults and children are being asked to try together to grow and learn in ways like never before. In response, Trying Together has strived to continue supporting parents and educators so they know how much they and their efforts are appreciated. The newest Community Report provides an overview of the work that Trying Together has accomplished in the last two fiscal years, with the following outcomes in mind. By 2022, Trying Together will be: A national leader offering its expertise in coordinating and connecting systems at the neighborhood, local, and regional levels to support early childhood development and early learning. The premier provider of in-person and online professional growth opportunities for home, center, and school-based professionals to ensure that every child has access to high-quality early childhood and early learning experiences. A ‘go to source’ for families to aid them in making well-informed decisions regarding their child’s early experiences. An expert policy resource in western Pennsylvania and a leading advocate for high-quality early care and education in the state, mobilizing its network to take action on issues important to young children and their families. About Trying Together Trying Together supports high-quality care and education for young children by providing advocacy, community resources, and professional growth opportunities for the needs and rights of children, their families, and the individuals who interact with them. Trying Together works regionally (in Southwestern Pennsylvania) and takes its expertise and models to statewide and national audiences.
November 6, 2020 Diaper Bank at Hub & Family Center The Homewood Early Learning Hub & Family Center is now a Diaper Bank location in Allegheny County. Diapers in sizes one to six and wipes are available to families in Homewood and surrounding communities. Each family can receive up to two packs of diapers every 60 days. Requesting Diapers and Wipes Due to COVID-19, families must schedule a time to pick up their diapers and wipes. To schedule a pickup time, please complete the request form. Once you have completed the form, a member of our staff will contact you to arrange a pickup. Please note that opened diapers and wipes may not be returned or exchanged. Pickups will be made at the new location for The Homewood Early Learning Hub & Family Center: 7219 Kelly Street Pittsburgh, PA 15208 Please contact Toni Beasley at 412.540.5732 or toni@tryingtogether.org. Share this flyer with your networks. About the Homewood Early Learning Hub & Family Center The Homewood Early Learning Hub & Family Center is one of 27 Family Centers located in neighborhoods around Allegheny County. The Homewood Early Learning Hub & Family Center supports the early learning needs of young children, families, and early educators in the Homewood communities. More information can be found on The Homewood Early Learning Hub & Family Center website.
October 30, 2020 Recess Advocacy Team Community Conversation Are you interested in joining fellow advocates to discuss the important roles play and physical activity have in children’s lives? Join the Recess Advocacy Team on November 17 for a Virtual Community Conversation. About The freedom to play improves children’s social, emotional, physical, and cognitive skills. Children make sense of what’s happening in the world around them through play, and it impacts their mental health and wellbeing. The Recess Advocacy Team is convening a virtual space for educators, families, and community members to discuss play and physical activity while balancing health, safety, and remote learning in the time of COVID-19. We must ensure children have opportunities to safely experience play and physical activity. This virtual community conversation is for play advocates to come together to discuss successes, challenges, and share strategies to elevate play. Registration Sessions will be held virtually via Zoom. Please register to receive more information about accessing the sessions. Lunch & Learn November 17, 2020 | 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. | Register Dinner & Dialogue November 17, 2020 | 6 – 7 p.m. | Register More Information For more information about the Recess Advocacy Team and to subscribe to their newsletter, visit the Playful Pittsburgh Collaborative website. Please share this flyer with your networks.
October 15, 2020 Virtual Service Delivery Webinar Series Are you interested in learning how to build and sustain relationships with families virtually? Join Brazelton Touchpoints Center for their free Virtual Service Delivery Webinar Series. About Join Brazelton Touchpoints Center for a series of free webinars and an online learning community to explore the challenges and opportunities posed by virtual service delivery, and learn about strategies providers have found for building and sustaining strong relationships with families virtually. Featured Topics Finding the Balance in Virtual Service Delivery Thursday, October 22, 2020 | 2:00 p.m. Using a Hybrid Approach to Partner with Families Thursday, November 5, 2020 | 2:00 p.m. Providing Staff Support and Supervision Virtually Thursday, November 19, 2020 | 2:00 p.m. Understanding and Responding to Trauma in Virtual Service Delivery Thursday, December 3, 2020 | 2:00 p.m. Taking Care of Yourself as a Virtual Service Provider Thursday, December 17, 2020 | 2:00 p.m. Registration To register and learn more, visit the event webpage.
September 17, 2020 Recess Helps Students Reach Their Full Potential As we begin a very different school year, the Recess Advocacy Team continues to elevate play and provide support to educators and families. Recess is key to helping students reach their full potential within the classroom and beyond. Several studies show that recess increases children’s attention span and productivity in the classroom. New Resources from the Recess Advocacy Team Send a letter to your child’s teacher The Recess Advocacy Team updated their student letter asking teachers to remember the importance of play to reflect our current times. Instructions: (1) Download the letter (2) Enter information for the teacher, your child’s name, and your name in the editable boxes (3) Save the letter with your information (4) Send the electronically signed letter via email If your child is attending school in person, you can still download, print, and share a hard copy. Play and Physical Activity Resource Guide for Educators and Families The Recess Advocacy Team compiled a list of resources for educators and families to make sure play and physical activity are a part of childrens’ days and serve as a foundation for their learning, growth, and development. This list includes resources, activities, and considerations for ensuring play shows up in our daily lives—and ways that educators and families can incorporate play/physical activity into children’s learning. Families are encouraged to share this resource when sending the letter to the teacher. Learn More About the Recess Advocacy Team The Recess Advocacy Team is a group of organizations dedicated to health, wellness, education, and play with a focus on recess practices and policies in pre-k through sixth grade. You can learn more about the Recess Advocacy Team on the Playful Pittsburgh Collaborative website.
September 11, 2020 Co-Educating with Families Webinar Are you interested in learning how to utilize creative experiences to draw families into learning together? Attend the webinar “Co-Educating with Families” on November 4 to learn about practice strategies that bridge school and home learning. About In this webinar, Cheri Sterman and James Wells from Crayola will share practice strategies that bridge school and home learning. Whether it is Moved by Math, Writing Art-Inspired Stories, or STEAM for 21st Century Learners, projects that actively engage students as decision-makers who create, present, respond, and connect enliven learning! This webinar will be of interest to pre-k through middle school teachers and school and district leaders. Time for questions will be included. Registration To register and learn more, visit the event webpage.
July 29, 2020 IEPs and the 2020-21 School Year: What Families Need to Know Are you the parent or caregiver of a student with an IEP? Join the PEAL Center on August 11 for the webinar, “Students with IEPs and the 2020-21 School Year: What Families Need to Know.” About On August 11, Carole Clancy, Director of the Bureau of Special Education at the Pennsylvania Department of Education, will join the PEAL Center for a live presentation to offer an overview of guidance being provided to schools regarding students with IEPs. Director Clancy will discuss the following: COVID-19 compensatory services; instructional days and hours; the use of masks at schools; and COVID-19’s impact on evaluation, re-evaluation, and delayed eligibility determinations. Participants are encouraged to submit any questions they may have for the presenter in advance by completing this online form. Questions must be submitted no later than August 3, 2020. Registration This live event will be available on the PEAL Center Facebook page and will be recorded for those unable to attend. A webinar recording will be available on the Facebook event page after the session ends. Training will be delivered in English, with Spanish and American Sign Language (ASL) translation available. Captioning in other languages is available if participants download the Microsoft Translator app. More Information For questions or more information, contact info@pealcenter.org or 1.866.950.1040. Share this flyer with your network.
June 19, 2020 Public Discussion: Services for Families in Allegheny County What does your community need? How can the Allegheny County Department of Human Services help meet those needs? You are invited to share your ideas and suggestions at a virtual Human Services Block Grant Public Meeting. All input will inform the 2020-21 Human Services Block Grant Plan. Available Sessions Monday, June 29, 2020 | 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 30, 2020 | 4:30 p.m. Join a Session There are three ways to participate in a virtual meeting: To hear the live audio, see the live video, and participate in the Q&A, join on your computer, smartphone, or tablet. You may be instructed to download an app called Microsoft Teams. If prompted to sign in, you may choose whether to do so or join anonymously. To hear the live audio only, call 267.368.7515. The access code for Monday’s meeting is 172 596 105# and the access code for Tuesday’s meeting is 746 312 327#. To watch the recordings at your convenience, visit the Allegheny County website. The recordings will be posted within 24 to 48 hours after the meetings. More Information Allegheny County DHS makes reasonable efforts to accommodate people with disabilities or limited-English-proficiency. Closed captioning in English, Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic will be available when joining the meeting on a PC or Mac. For questions, comments, or ideas, contact DHS-Ideas@AlleghenyCounty.US.
June 18, 2020 Everyday Heroes: Child Care is No Small Matter Join No Small Matter and their partners for a Facebook Live town hall and streaming premiere of the documentary No Small Matter (Executive Produced by Alfre Woodard). About the Event America’s early learning infrastructure was fragile even before COVID-19. But the pandemic has pushed it to the brink of collapse. Half of all child care sites are currently shuttered, and the ones that remain open do so at great risk to the health of providers and their families. With no other option but to stay home with their infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, millions of parents will be unable to return to work, paralyzing efforts to restart the nation’s economy. What has suddenly become searingly self-evident is that early education is essential. Put simply, America doesn’t work without it. That’s why on June 25, ABCinemaNOW Live will present an unprecedented Facebook Live screening event designed to generate support for the urgent action needed to tackle America’s childcare crisis. Everyday Heroes: Celebrating Early Educators, Supporting Families will feature the national streaming premiere of the documentary No Small Matter (Executive Produced by Alfre Woodard), followed by a live panel discussion highlighting the devastating impact of COVID-19 on children, families, and caregivers, and in turn, on the economy. Woven throughout the event will be video messages from celebrities, cultural influencers, and frontline workers thanking early educators for the challenging, exhausting, and essential work they do every day. Learn More Visit the event website and follow No Small Matter on Facebook to join this event.
June 12, 2020 Allegheny Child Care is Growing As of this week, we are excited to announce that we have expanded the Allegheny Child Care search tool to include: after-school; out-of-school; and summer programs! If you provide one or more of these services and have not already confirmed your information, we ask that you update your listing as soon as possible at providers.alleghenychildcare.org. Promote Your Out of School & Summer Programs Now If your program re-opened as part of Allegheny County’s move to the “green phase” last week, we hope that your first week back has been a welcomed return for you and your children, families, and staff. By updating your information, the Allegheny Child Care tool will assist you in promoting and marketing your program(s) to families. In turn, this will allow you to expedite the process for getting children enrolled, thus making an often stressful task less burdensome for families especially at this time. If you have any questions or issues please: email us at info@alleghenychildcare.org; review our FAQ guide; or join us for our next Virtual Director Roundtable discussion on Tuesday, June 16 at 6:00 p.m. when we will share details on the recent updates to the Allegheny Child Care tool and answer questions. Thank you for your assistance. Updating Your Information In order to add the after-school, out-of-school, and summer-time programs to the platform, we pulled public data currently available from our partners at Allegheny Partners for Out of School Time (APOST) and United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania. As information may have changed due to COVID-19, we would appreciate you taking a few minutes to review the information listed for your program(s) on the platform and then updating it accordingly at providers.alleghenychildcare.org. In particular, please update your: current operational status (open/closed and availability); age group(s) served; and basic profile information. You will receive regular email reminders to update your vacancy information so parents searching for care can find your program. More Information From the COVID-19 crisis, Allegheny Child Care is a unique pilot project that has been developed to support the child care needs of families. Caregivers and parents of young children can now search available child care spots at Allegheny County early learning programs in real-time with the Allegheny Child Care tool.
